This invention relates to automotive vehicle grills in general and specifically to movable vehicle grills positioned adjacent energy absorbing bumpers.
It has become the practice in the automobile industry to provide vehicles with energy absorbing bumpers which substantially deflect or move axially with respect to the vehicle upon impact. To avoid damage to the grill work positioned immediately adjacent the rear of such bumpers, it has been necessary to provide sufficient space between the rear of the bumper and the forward surface of the grill to prevent damage. An alternative approach, however, has been to mount the grill to permit its movement upon contact with the rearwardly deflecting or moving bumper. Exemplary of such a design solution is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,792,889, Fuener et al. While this solution is suitable for many vehicle applications, it suffers from the drawback that the grill is pivotally mounted at one end with respect to some fixed portion of the vehicle. Since the height of the grill is generally substantial, this requires providing substantial clearance for the arc through which the free end of the grill passes. As the packaging of components to efficiently define modern automobiles has progressed, it has been found that providing this clearance can in some applications dictate severe design constraints.